Matt Hardy Breaks Down The Differences Between AEW And WWE Fans

Matt Hardy was a recent guest on AEW's Unrestricted podcast where he spoke about AEW's fans being different. He admitted they prefer things to be more realistic.

"Something I have learned by following AEW's audience closely, it's a very different audience than places I have worked at in the past. Impact's audience, for instance, they are a lot more accepting of things that are more out of the normal parameters of pro wrestling. They enjoy that stuff a lot more," Hardy stated. "WWE fans even are a little more into more supernatural stuff. But AEW Dynamite fans, really like the realistic in-ring product of old-school pro wrestling where it stays within the boundaries of reality. I decided to work towards that."

The AEW star admitted he noticed the difference within the fans. Hardy added that the fans demand the talent work like they're 25 to 30-years-old.

"I realized after we did the thing with Sammy, I had stubbed my toe a couple of times in the program. The audience is being very hard on me," he admitted. "I see a thing here too, the demographic here in AEW is very different from a WWE. The demographic and the feedback I get from performing on AEW compared to WWE is very different. It's much younger, it's much more trendy, cool pro wrestling fans. As opposed to WWE, you can tell the audience is older and they are almost more welcoming of legends and veterans who have been around in the past. With AEW, it's very tough. You have to go out and bust your ass like you're 25 to 30 every night. They demand that they demand the best."

Matt Hardy has been heavily involved in cinematic matches throughout his career. However, he admitted that he doesn't think they are AEW's thing overall.

"As far as cinematic matches go. I think with the right time and place you shouldn't overdo them. Cinematic matches aren't really the AEW thing," he stated. "I think that's my stance on that right now. I think the diehard AEW fans aren't massive fans of the cinematic matches. If you do cinematic matches, I think they want them more straightforward, almost like the one Sting did that time. I tell you what, if we ever get to a good comfortable place of maybe a more aggressive form of Broken Matt Hardy, more viscous, more primal. I think a cinematic match with Broken Matt Hardy and Sting with a very serious note would be very cool."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit AEW Unrestricted with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.